Mobile Marketing and Related Privacy Concerns

For many people, the thought of leaving the house without their mobile phone is unimaginable. If I forget my mobile phone, I would rather go back home to pick it up and risk reporting to work late. Such is the impact of mobile phones on people. At some point you must have wondered how life was before the advent of mobile phones. Well there was the dependable fixed phone, but that seems ages ago. The mobile is no longer a device for just speaking but has gradually taken its place as a social and business tool. Marketers are known to be a clever lot and they have not been left behind in taking advantage of this development, hence the introduction of mobile marketing services. What is so special about mobile marketing is apart from having limitless opportunities, sometimes you may not even realize when someone is marketing to you.

Advantages of Mobile Marketing
If you are running a business and have been considering a marketing campaign, there are numerous opportunities open in the mobile sector. The mobile phone must be one of the most common communication devices in the world. Big and small companies are all looking for ways to cash in on this high usage rate. It is important for every business to craft a clear mobile strategy to take advantage of this technology. Some of the advantages of this mobile platform include;
-High penetration rate
All households have at least one mobile phone. The mobile phone also gives the marketer direct and unlimited access to their clients on a 24 hr basis.
-Immediate Access
With people carrying their phones everywhere, any message sent is delivered immediately or whenever the user puts on their phone.
-Easy platform
This platform is very easy to use. An advertiser does not have to produce a complicated message. A simple message works all right. Whenever a mobile user receives a message they like, they can save it and act on it when the time comes. Mobile marketing is also easy to integrate with other campaigns a company may be running on other media.
-Convenient Payment
If you are selling a product or service and you advertise on mobile and further tie it to a mobile payment platform, you have very high chances of conversion.
-Rich Database
There is so much data on users of mobile phones. You can tell a lot about a consumer by the model of phone they own. This information is available for interested parties to enable them execute targeted campaigns.
-A mobile campaign is easy to track and measure by the number of downloads or clicks a message receives.
-This type of campaign is also interactive. You can be able to get your target to send a reply text or click on a site to confirm receipt.
-The development of smart phones with high resolution screens gives advertisers a chance of using more communication tools such as video with good results.
-Mobile phones have a huge viral potential. If you do a catchy and appealing message, it can go viral by being forwarded by your targets to other user’s phones.

Mobile Marketing and Privacy
There are so many benefits of the technology that it is not possible to mention all of them. However like all other good things, there are certain concerns related to the growth of mobile marketing. One of the main issues regards the privacy of such campaigns. For an advertiser to be able to target their message, they require data from mobile phone operators and other third parties. Some of the data is not collected with the full knowledge of the users.
The sale of such confidential information to third parties is seen as a breach of privacy by many. Not only does your mobile phone reveal where you live, your spending patterns, mode of transport but also other personal information that should not be revealed to third parties. With mobile operators looking to earn an extra income, disclosing this information not only brings in revenue from the information sold but also in the form of text or video messages sent. This is a matter under discussion and stiff regulations are on the way to regulate the industry.
There are a few other disadvantages of using mobile marketing because users have different types of phones while operators also have different types of transmission technologies. This makes the mobile platform too complex and fragmented to run a uniform campaign.

What is not in doubt is that even with the above challenges, mobile marketing is set to experience an explosive growth because it represents the future. In a few years, the mobile phone will overtake the PC as the leading browser and the power will have shifted further in favor of mobile phones!